Construction Causes Chaos

MSUM_Signature

Construction Causes Chaos

Delays amplify already stressful repairs

It’s the first day of school. Your bags are packed, you’ve ordered all of your books, now you just need to get dressed and grab your cup of coffee. But there’s one more thing you have to do. You have homework before school even starts. What homework you might ask? You still have to research how you’re going to get on campus.

“Eighth Street is closed, MSUM senior Emma Johnson said. “Main (Avenue)’s closed, so it felt like all of the main arteries were being worked on. For someone like me, who’s not originally from here, having to find new alternate routes was incredibly inconvenient because it added time. It added miles and confusion because sometimes I ended up not knowing where I was.”

Al Aamodt is an adjunct professor at MSUM who spends his mornings as the assignment editor at Valley News Live, covering traffic reports for the “Valley Today.” He’s been monitoring construction in the F-M area all summer long, recently he says things have taken a turn.

“I think people are frustrated as we’ve gotten closer to the start of the school year,” said Aamodt. “Traffic obviously is going to be picking up, but it seems like people are becoming more careless or more willing to take a chance to get where they need to go. That mess over here on 20th Street and 30th Avenue and I-94, I don’t think anybody anticipated that was going to be the problem that it is.”

Johnson agrees, adding that, “driving to school can be frustrating... some days getting through the construction will only take you an extra five minutes, but then other days it will take an extra 15 or 20 minutes. So I think that’s really stressful for students coming to school because of that unknown, the timing of everything can be really stressful.”

On Aug. 22, the first day of school for both M State and MSUM, the Minnesota State Patrol saw eight separate car accidents in a single hour. According to Sergeant Jesse Grabow, all eight of the crashes took place between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. and all of the accidents occurred within a construction work zone along eastbound I-94. Aamodt remembers the day well.

“I’m out there doing those traffic reports every day, and pretty much every day there is something,” he said. “Sometimes it can get a little scary because people aren’t always careful. They’re fed up and lots of people are in a hurry, and I’ve seen it on both ends of the day.”

Delays create larger upsets

One reason students are suffering from construction and traffic woes it because the project is running roughly three weeks behind schedule.

“The contract was supposed to be open by Aug. 19,” said Jerimiah Moerke, the public affairs coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, District 4. “The work was supposed to be done before school started. So it’s not what was intended, but it’s [the traffic and congestion] not a surprise.”

Moerke says there were a few unexpected additions to Moorhead’s summer construction plans.

“The project in downtown Moorhead was supposed to happen last year but it got pushed back,” he said. “It wasn’t part of the initial plan. So we knew it wasn’t going to be ideal – it’s just how things worked out.”

Aamodt initially thought the situation in Moorhead might get better, but says he has yet to see any evidence of that.

“It’s a perfect storm. That’s what we’re dealing with here, and it’s a cliché but it’s true,” said Aamodt. “I honestly don’t think the mayor and the city council in Moorhead really knew that this was going to be that big a deal. It’s really causing problems.”

Moerke agrees, “In some ways it is [the perfect storm] but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s taking longer than it was supposed to, but it’s getting close to the end.”

That “light” is the only thing some students say is keeping them sane.

A hint of hope for repairs

"I hate the road construction,” said MSUM senior Tony Roetzel. “I'm a delivery guy. It's definitely an added stress, for sure. The only positive is that it's good some of the roads are getting done before the winter, because the potholes get so bad. That's the only aspect of the construction that's good, is the future of the road.”

Moerke says the project is set to be finished in October, but the interchange should be done in the next few weeks.

“It’s getting a lot closer now to everything being back open,” he said. “There are only a few major projects left. There’s going to be median work near 24th Avenue and Eighth Street; and there’s going to be resurfacing from 22nd to 24th and 30th to 35th. Those are probably the big things that people might see, but the bulk of the work will be complete shortly. Then it’s just the finishing touches,” said Moeke, adding that he does want to caution drivers, “Even when the interchange opens there is still work that needs to be done, so there will still be cones out there intermittently.”